Brain Surgery Frees Holly from Seizures

October 31, 2016

Holly Lopez was 38 years old when she first experienced seizures—scary, out-of-body experiences that disrupted her work as a medical assistant and frightened her young daughter.

When the medication prescribed to treat her epilepsy didn’t work, she sought the advice of Yale Medicine neurosurgeon Dennis Spencer, MD, who suggested a brain surgery that would implant electrodes to target the site of the seizure.

In this short documentary, filmed just weeks after surgery, Lopez and Dr. Spencer reflect on her journey, and her hopes for the future. There is a good chance now that her symptoms will improve—and a 60 percent chance that the seizures are now in the rear-view mirror.